Thermo Fisher Scientific animal health products have been at the forefront of recent advances in production animal diagnostics, and supply some of the leading modern diagnostic tools to veterinary laboratories around the world.

In keeping with our commitment to deliver the highest quality next-generation molecular tools, we provide several diagnostic solutions licensed by the USDA. This includes our USDA-licensed VetMAX™-Gold SIV solutions: rapid, easy-to-use real-time PCR screening and subtyping kits that detect influenza virus in pigs with superior sensitivity, specificity, repeatability and reproducibility.

About SIV

SIV is a highly contagious viral infection of pigs caused by a variety of closely related influenza A viruses. These viruses are noted for their ability to create new strains such as H1 N1, H1 N2, and H3 N2. An outbreak is typically preceded by 1–3 individual cases and then spreads rapidly within a herd, mainly by aerosolization (coughing, nasal discharge) and pig-to-pig contact.

SIV causes a respiratory disease characterized by coughing, sneezing, nasal discharge, fever, lethargy, difficulty breathing, loss of appetite, and in some cases may contribute to reproductive problems and abortion. Although mortality tends to be low, morbidity can reach 100%, which can place an economic burden on producers due to treatment expenses and animals arriving late to market as a result of delayed weight gain.

Highly accurate diagnostic solutions for the rapid detection of SIV

The VetMAX™-Gold SIV Solutions are USDA-licensed diagnostic tests that have successfully passed the USDA’s stringent review process. This process requires demonstration of the effectiveness of the real-time PCR test and manufacturing of the product in a USDA-licensed and -inspected biologics facility.

Veterinary diagnosticians rely on our molecular reagents and instrumentation to detect and control disease. With our VetMAX™-Gold SIV product they have a USDA-licensed diagnostic test for SIV containing all the necessary reagents and controls in a single detection kit.

Confidence in results

Our USDA-licensed kits have demonstrated superior repeatability, reproducibility, and sensitivity. They target multiple genomic regions to help reduce the risk of false negatives that can be caused by genomic mutations.

Fast and simple to use

The simple, validated, and easily integrated workflow helps minimize sample handling and cross-contamination. It delivers a fast and cost-effective SIV detection method that yields results in as little as 1.5 hours.

Enables cost savings

Our USDA-licensed, real-time PCR kits help reduce the assay validation burden for laboratories and also helps decrease variability of results, allowing for reproducibility through assay standardization.

Confidence in results backed by data

VetMAX™-Gold SIV Detection Kit - A study was conducted of 226 nasal swab field samples (121 positive and 105 negative) of various SIV subtypes. The complete workflow was carried out by external collaborators as part of the USDA-licensing effort. The SIV status of each sample was determined prior to testing with virus isolation and/or sequencing. The assay produced 98.4% sensitivity and 99.1% specificity. The only discrepant positive samples were from very low-titer samples amplified near the assay’s limit of detection, which resulted in inconsistent detection upon retesting. The single discrepant negative sample was confirmed to be negative upon reisolation and repeated analysis by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRTPCR).The original positive test was likely due to crosscontamination during isolation or qRT-PCR setup.